Dr. Brad Petersen has been a practicing veterinarian for 20 years. But 2018, his clinic Petersen Pet Hospital moved to a new location in Hiawatha that will allow his growing business to provide more services for their canine and feline clients.

“We added a comfort room where we can have delicate conversations with pet owners and perform euthanasias in a space that is set up more like a family room, to make everyone comfortable instead of a sterile exam room,” Petersen said.

Along with growing from three to seven exam rooms, he noted his business now also offers dog and cat boarding for extended stays.

Having more space has allowed the staff of 23 to focus on their everyday work, Dr. Petersen said.

“We do everything from preventive care, exams and vaccinations to ultrasounds and laparoscopic, endoscopic and orthopedic surgeries. And we do a lot of teeth cleaning on cats and dogs,” he added.

Petersen’s clinic — which sees mainly dogs and cats, but also some pocket pets such as hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits — is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association.

“Probably the biggest thing (about the hospital) is that all of our veterinary technicians are ‘fear-free’ certified,” Petersen added, noting the industrywide shift to gentler handling of animals at a pet hospital.

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